As I work through the kids' closet, I've come to the shoes and again am overwhelmed. They have so many shoes!

How many shoes do your kids have? What is a reasonable number of pairs for kids who wear them out faster than they outgrow them?

I should add that I go with neutral, wear with everything shoes and am not a shoe horse by nature, so I'm not coming at this from an Imelda Marcos closet. We just get lots of hand me downs for the girls and DS wears shoes out fast, so we keep replacing them and old ones that still fit are saved for dirty work, making for a full closet of junky shoes!

Odd wears her shoes out faster than anyone else in the house. She has 1 pair of twinkle ties tennis shoes, one plain pair of tennis shoes for gym mainly, a pair if boots, a pair if flip flops, a pair of sandals that strap on, and a pair if dress shoes.

Ds has a pair of stride right tennis shoes (hold up well), a pair of sandals, and a pair of crocs. He also has 2 pairs of Walmart brand croc type shoes that are lightening McQueen but they are moving out a they are getting too small.

The baby I am not sure as I need to purge her show drawer and get rid of he too small.

__________________The only time you should look in your neighbor's bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don't look in your neighbor's bowl to see if you have as much as them.
Louis C.K.

They can only wear the casual sandals or boots outside to play. These are also for dirty work--we do not save the worn out shoes for that.

Their casual shoes are reserved for school or going out somewhere, dressy shoes and dressy sandals reserved for dressy occasions only.

If something gets muddy or wet, it can always be substituted for something else. For example, DS1 wore his casual tennis shoes in the mud yesterday, so he went to school in casual sandals (crocs) with thick socks. He also could have worn his boots or church shoes. Not my first choice, but it works for today while I get the others washed. I don't buy multiples of the same thing "just in case".

I have learned if I buy pricier shoes like nike, adidas, strite rite, etc, they will last practically forever, enough for 2-3 children to wear for a year or more. The shoes under $30 will get worn out before they get outgrown.

DS1 has 1 pair of Lands End boots, 3 pair of sneakers (1 play, 1 pair of New Balance for school and 1 for especially nasty chores)

DS2 has a pair of Lands End boots, a pair of knockoff crocs, and 2 pair of sneakers, one play cheapie pair & one pair of New Balance for times that require nicer shoes..

Ds3 is 10 mos old & shoe-less for know.

I'm not a shoe horse though. I have 1 pair of sneakers (Ryka), 2 pair flip-flops (cheap Old Navy) , 1 pair of suede like winter Hush Puppies shoes I can share with Ds1, 1 pair of slippers & a pair of athletic mary janes (Ryka). I also subscribe to the "buy quality to last longer" way of thinking.

Here I am a true minimalist. My kids have maybe 2-3 pairs each. Usually they have just 2, but we were on vacation and forgot tennis shoes for the girls so they ended up with an extra pair. DD1 has a pair of flip flops, and two tennis shoes/sneakers. If it's raining, she'll wear the flipflops so they dry out fast. DD2 has one pair of tennis shoes and one that's more like sneakers. If one pair gets wet, they dry while she wears the other. She doesn't do flip flops yet. Granted, we don't do church or school so they don't need nice shoes. Once it gets to winter here I'll add boots but get rid of the flips flops or most worn out pair of tennis shoes. I've found that we're less likely to lose them when we have fewer pairs because I'm more protective of them. This does mean they wear out faster because they are wearing them almost every day.

For each size they go through (which is each season, it seems, for 1yo DS and twice a year for 2yo DD) they get a pair of dress shoes, sneakers, and casual shoes for out and about. Rit now, actually, only DD gets that. DS is a new walker and only needs his one pair of Robeez, but will be getting some dress shoes soon, I think.

DD LOVES shoes! But I try to limit myself in buying for her. Lol She could spend all day in Payless, though.

My 8yo DD has a pair each of: Lands End winter boots, Crocs, Uggs, Pumas and Primigi mary jane's.
DS's each have a pair of sandals (usually Nike or Keen), winter boots, rain boots and a pair of other shoes, DS1 has Pumas and DS2 has Sperry's. I would buy DS1 dress shoes but he won't wear them.
If you buy nicer shoes, they last forever and can usually be resold for a decent amount.

MMmm. Maybe I need to go more minimalist, but this is what each kid has:
flip flops (required at the indoor pool we use)
croc knock-offs
tennis shoes (2 pairs, in case one gets wet)
dress shoes
sandals
rain boots
snow boots (2 pairs, in case one gets wet)
surf socks (because we live near a lake, and there are sharp things on the bottom occasionally)
winter house shoes, because there is a ten degree difference in the top floor and the basement in winter.

I have those shoe cubbie things in my laundry/mud room, and most the seasonably appropriate shoes live there. Out of season shoes are stored in a closet if they will still fit someone the next year. We don't hand most shoes down because my girls are too close in size and most of the time their stuff is too girly for the boy.

Is that too many? My kids are old enough to manage their own shoes, put them away as they come in, etc. so it has not been a burden on me.

MMmm. Maybe I need to go more minimalist, but this is what each kid has:
flip flops (required at the indoor pool we use)
croc knock-offs
tennis shoes (2 pairs, in case one gets wet)
dress shoes
sandals
rain boots
snow boots (2 pairs, in case one gets wet)
surf socks (because we live near a lake, and there are sharp things on the bottom occasionally)
winter house shoes, because there is a ten degree difference in the top floor and the basement in winter.

I have those shoe cubbie things in my laundry/mud room, and most the seasonably appropriate shoes live there. Out of season shoes are stored in a closet if they will still fit someone the next year. We don't hand most shoes down because my girls are too close in size and most of the time their stuff is too girly for the boy.

Is that too many? My kids are old enough to manage their own shoes, put them away as they come in, etc. so it has not been a burden on me.